Need inspiration – Meet Lisa LePointe!!

Learn more about Lisa in this Q&A

Share a little about your background and your recent photography journey of the past 5-6 years.

For as long as I can remember I’ve been drawn to wild places, and photography is my way to connect more deeply with those places. Photography forces one to slow down, to look closer, to wait for things to develop. With my camera, I find myself revisiting a location over and over, and I always come away with something new.

Over the last decade or so, I’ve worked nearly full-time as a professional wilderness guide and photography instructor, so a big part of what I do is connecting others with wild places. Not only is this incredibly rewarding, but seeing the ways others interpret their wilderness experience has informed my own personal journey. 




What pulled you toward photography and the genera of nature photography?

I’ve been very fortunate to have many outstanding experiences in nature, and photography serves as my journal, my memory. I’m a biologist by training and photography also gives me a way to engage others with science, to show why science, and being caretakers for our planet, matters.

Where do you see your photography going in the next 5-6 years?

My most recent focus has been storytelling. It is one thing to take a technically perfect image, or one with inherent beauty, but I’m most interested in the emotional impact of an image and its ability to elicit thought. I’m particularly interested in the relationship between man and nature. It is such a fundamental relationship, and yet one that feels increasingly fraught. We need wild places. We may not always think we do, but we do.

Many photographers dream of working as a photographer. What do you think was a pivotal moment in your journey that transitioned you into becoming pro?

Well, looking back it feels like “right place, right time” but that is probably selling myself short. I’ve long enjoyed both teaching and photography but couldn’t imagine being able to combine those two in such a satisfying way. When I first started leading workshops it really all came together, and like most things done with love, it worked out really well. Later, I was able to bring a little bit of the science side into things too, alternately working as naturalist guide and photographer. I find being a naturalist—understanding ecology and behavior—informs my photography, and photography makes me more interested in learning about nature. 


The equipment does not make the photographer but is critically important in wildlife photography. What equipment is important to create award-winning nature and wildlife photographs?

It is true that the best camera is the one you have in hand, but the right gear in wildlife photography, especially, really ups the odds for getting the shot. Long lenses are often essential to get detailed images of wildlife without causing disturbance. No image is worth disrupting an animal’s natural rhythms! Having said that, I also try to use wider lenses to capture my subject as a smaller component in its environment. Both can be vital for showing the complete picture.


Words of inspiration.

Our world is changing rapidly, and photography is a way to make it stand still for a moment. It’s a way to connect, to engage, to document, and to hopefully, create some positive change. The world can never have too many creative storytellers!